Western Lifestyle Creeps Into Culture

April 21, 1985|By Jean Allen, Travel Editor

PEKING, CHINA — You realize that free enterprise is not dead in this land of socialism the moment you`re surrounded by salesmen hawking ``I climbed the Great Wall`` T- shirts. Young peddlers in decadent pursuit of profit scramble up the broken steps and follow tourists who toil up the broad incline along a restored section of the ancient wonder of the world.

Even before they get to the Great Wall, tourists arriving at Peking`s Capital Airport (modeled after Orly in Paris) already have noted another sign that China has joined the modern world: Chinese travelers returning from Japan wheeling Hitachi color television sets through the terminal, some struggling with four to six big cartons.

Tourists entering China through Canton would have seen another sign of capitalistic decadence: Money changers at the terminal and railway station are offering more than the official rate for Hong Kong dollars or for the certificates used as currency in China by foreigners. Such black-marketeering is forbidden but seemingly ignored by officials.

Western ways are creeping into China by way of various official ``revolutionary reforms`` and deals made with Western companies. ``What works is called Marxist, what doesn`t is denounced as capitalism,`` said one China- watcher.

The moves range from tourist attractions to profit-sharing and private businesses.

THE WESTERN TOUCH

(BU) A 200-bed Club Med village is under construction near Canton and is expected to open by Christmas. The worldwide organization of resorts noted for their free and easy atmosphere will train 200 Chinese employees and also train other Chinese for the tourist industry.

(BU) A $70 million film city is planned near the ancient imperial capital of Xian and will have ``three complexes in the style of dynasties from the Tang to the Qing (618-1911) for historical films and tourism, like Universal City,`` studio head We Tinaming said.

(BU) Late this year, a Disney-style theme parkcalled Paradise Recreation Center will open near Wuxi, built in cooperation with a Japanese construction company. It will have a dragon-shaped monorail.

(BU) Western-style fast-food restaurants have opened in Peking and the country`s first bowling lanes are a big hit. The lanes are in Peking`s new Lido Hotel, a place with a bakery displaying not rice cakes but Danish pastries and French bread.

(BU) China has been building many modern hotels to handle the large numbers of tourists. Now foreign companies are managing some of them. In late March, Sheraton Corp. took over the Great Wall Hotel, a giant 22-story, $75 million, 1,007 room Peking establishment that opened in 1983.

(Western management is needed: The luxurious hotel has had curious gaps in service, such as ice machines on every floor but no ice buckets, and frequent room assignment mix-ups. Peking`s I.M. Pei-designed Xiang Shan, or Fragrant Hill Hotel, which opened two years ago with a reputation as one of China`s finest, already is threadbare and dirty with terrible service according to two of China`s official tour guides. Several Chinese hotels are being managed capably by the Peninsula group of Hong Kong and Holiday Inn`s international division. A Hilton hotel is planned in Shanghai.)

(BU) A new ``Food Street`` in Tianjin was designed for tourists but is drawing hungry locals. The 110 eateries opened Jan. 1, crammed into a blocky, prisonlike building. One bar there dresses its staff in Chinese garb of the 1920s; teahouse waitresses wear ornate Ming Dynasty-style gowns. One place caters only to children`s birthday parties and has a live Christmas tree and candles on cakes.

(BU) All hotels and their dining rooms are operated on a profit basis, which might make for better service. Employes get 20 percent of the profits and can purchase shares in the hotel.

(BU) The government also relaxed its grip on factories, making them ``independent producers responsible for profits and losses.`` Profit- sharing, bonuses and incentive pay are encouraged to ``punish the lazy and reward the diligent,`` according to a government statement.

(BU) The government, which once assigned all jobs, now encourages young jobless people to go into business for themselves. One group turned an old Peking earthquake shelter into a teahouse. It was so popular that the group opened stalls near the shelter selling crafts and Chinese-style Popsicles, and sent photographers to take pictures of tourists.

Other entrepreneurs operate cafes and inns, repair furniture and bikes, resole shoes and carry luggage at stations. An instant restaurant can be created by setting up a few tables and chairs along the roadside and firing up a portable stove. The whole ``restaurant`` probably has been wheeled in on a cart pulled by a bicycle.